For his action
at Rorke's Drift he was mentioned
in despatches. He was killed during the action, aged 22, while giving
water to wounded Cpl. Scammell.

Interestingly,
this action caught the attention of Schiess,
who upon seeing Byrne get shot by the sniper, raced out over the
barracades and killed the sniper, whilst also fighting off a number
of other Zulu assailants.